


rest your head upon my shoulder

by mind_boggling



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 12:09:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12794253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mind_boggling/pseuds/mind_boggling
Summary: “It was all over the news” she says, pulling away from him quickly and awkwardly, composing herself and wiping tears from her cheeks. “The fire fight with Billy, Agent Madani and, and the cops— I don’t understand”He merely shrugs, repeating Madani’s words from her hospital bed. “Pete Castiglione is a free man”A small silence. She stutters a laugh. He manages a smile. It’s enough to be a home.





	rest your head upon my shoulder

**Author's Note:**

> karen and frank meet once again, both alone on thanksgiving, and have dinner together
> 
> _[set after the 1x13 of the punisher]_
> 
> dedicated to kinsey love u

He wonders how long they’ve been there.

Now Lieberman was gone, Frank didn’t have a way of knowing if she’d contacted him. No access to the cameras outside of her apartment to see when the flowers were there.

_“You got mail, Frank”_

He thinks about it and he smiles.

Russo was still on the run, the aftermath of the attack on the senator still blaring on every news station possible. There were new leads, new sources, and he’d seen pictures of Curt on the news more than once. Painting him as a suspect just because he’s black. It made him sick. 

David was happy, and he’d called Frank more than once to let him know that. He was catching up on lost time, relishing in every story that Zach and Leo tell him of the things he missed— things he didn’t really miss, just had a static vision of. And Sarah— seeing the two of them together were better than any sort of revenge plan he’d gotten to expose Cerebus. 

He wanders to their usual place on the waterfront, the bench empty as suspected. Any sort of time frame on the flowers in the window was unknown to him, and she could’ve lost hope all together and figured him to be dead. He ponders it, the thought of her thinking he was dead somewhere, and it lays uncomfortably with him.

Frank stays on the bench for the better part of ten minutes before she shows. He hears her footsteps behind him and doesn’t bother to turn around. She halts. A small gasp, which causes him to turn instantly. The sun reflects off her white shirt as she stands in the distance. He almost seems ashamed, and he stands up. 

“You’re alive” 

He nods. “Seems it”

“You asshole” she mutters, walking over to the bench instantly before shoving him in the shoulder. He falters slightly, sliding down the muddy pile behind him, but it’s nothing. She continues hitting him, groaning with every blow. “I thought you were in jail, you _asshole_ ” 

“You asshole, Frank, you _asshole_ “ She repeats it over and over and he pulls his hands from his pockets and grabs her by the wrists, pulling them towards his chest as she falls into his embrace, her tears getting the better of her. 

“Shh,” he whispers, Karen yanking her arms from his grip before throwing them around his body quickly. He’s frozen on the spot, arms hanging in the air awkwardly, before he places them on the small of her back, breathing in her scent, accepting the warmth of something that could be home. “It’s okay” 

“It was all over the news” she says, pulling away from him quickly and awkwardly, composing herself and wiping tears from her cheeks. “The fire fight with Billy, Agent Madani and, and the cops— I don’t understand” 

He merely shrugs, repeating Madani’s words from her hospital bed. “Pete Castiglione is a free man” 

A small silence. She stutters a laugh. He manages a smile. It’s enough to be a home.

“Where’s your buddy David Lieberman?” She asks.

“Home” He replies. “He’s also a free man. Back with his wife and his kids— they’re good kids. They’re really good kids. Misunderstood, but all they needed was him. He was missing from the puzzle and it made all the other links fail” 

She smiles, folding her arms across her chest. “That’s good. That’s really good” 

He forces a smile. “Yeah”

“You miss him?” She asks.

He scoffs. “No way”

She laughs. “You do, I can tell” 

“He was an asshole” He replies. 

Karen shakes her head, silence falling between the both of them. Frank looks at the ground, shuffling the dirt beneath him with his boots. She stands watching him, eyes on him the whole time. “I’m glad you came” 

“I told you I would” He answers.

_It flashes before his eyes, Wilson is hauling her into an elevator, the entirety of Homeland Security on his trail, guns aimed in his face as he holds the detonator at arms length, free hand grabbing hold of Karen. She’s distressed, tears streaming from her eyes as she stumbles along with him, fighting the urge to stay alive._

_“I will come for you” He says._

_And in her eyes, she believes it._

“Have you got a place to stay?” She asks, drawing him away from the battles in his head and the demons dancing in his skull. He looks up toward her, shaking his head, grumbling, trying to think of an excuse. In the end, he tells her the truth.

“Moving about to whatever warehouse is available” He replies, sniffing and scrunching his nose up. She’s silent for a minute, and he can tell she doesn’t know what to say. Most of the time, she doesn’t. So he changes the subject. “Plans today? Thanksgiving with your parents?”

“Try thanksgiving alone in my apartment with the TV” She replies, a small laugh on the end, trying to keep what was turning into a dark conversation, light and breezy. “It’s whatever. Doesn’t matter”

“You know Junior loved Thanksgiving. An excuse for him to eat shit and not care” He says, looking just over the horizon instead of directly at her. “He’d cram as much jello into his mouth as he could and then throw it all back up a few hours later. Every year without fail”

He’s laughing, and she’s laughing, and it’s content for a moment, until the silence seeps back in. “What about you?” She asks.

“Me?” he responds. “I missed it. Most years. Wasn’t really the same sitting around a turned up trash can with a bunch of vets and their shit stinkin’ feet. It was nice, with Maria. It was family. And she always made it so damn good. Always” 

Karen smiles. “Uh” she says, stumbling on her words. “You know, there’s always an extra seat at my table. If you want it” He looks up quickly, noticing her cheeks flushing red, scratching behind her ear as some of her hair fell lose. He could tell the silence alarmed her and she laughs at herself, at her idiocy. “Forget I said anything. Forget it”

She begins to walk away, when Frank calls her name. “Karen”

Turning. Stopping. She looks into his eyes in a bid of desperate humility. 

_“I’ll come for you”_ replays in his head. He went after her and left her. This time, she went after him. It was his turn to be rescued. Even if he didn’t think he deserved it.

And he couldn’t let her leave this time.

He utters three words in response, and she smiles, and it’s as good as home. “I’d like that”

**Author's Note:**

>  **title:** song lyrics from ' _is there somewhere_ ' by _halsey_
> 
> find me elsewhere:
> 
>  **twitter:** vanlangs  
>  **tumblr:** bisexualieberman


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